Insect Responses to Global Change

Global change biologist Michael Belitz, assistant professor, Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, will speak on "Advancing Data Generation, Integration, and Application to Understand Insect Responses to Global Change" at the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar.

The hybrid seminar is at 12:10 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 4 in 122 Briggs Hall. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

"Ecological data is growing exponentially and provides new opportunities to address the intertwined challenges of insect declines and climate change," Belitz says in his abstract. "However, these data have serious spatial and taxonomic limitations as well as numerous biases. My research uses eco-informatics approaches to increase the quality, availability, and utility of growing entomological data."

"In this talk, I will share how ecological data can be generated, integrated, and applied to inform and enact conservation. First, I will discuss methods for scaling data generation to quantify the effects of urbanization on subtropical insect communities. Next, I will show how integrating diverse data sources can reveal environmental change across broad extents. For example, I integrate participatory science, professional surveys, and remote sensing products to provide evidence of phenological mismatch in a tri-trophic system across eastern North America. Finally, I will highlight the development of new applications that enable others to harness the strengths and overcome the challenges of working with open entomological data."

Belitz's research interests include global change biology, quantitative ecology, conservation biology, urban ecology and ecoinformation.

"We are a collaborative and interdisciplinary research group studying how insects and ecosystems respond to climate change, urbanization, and agricultural intensification," he writes on his lab website. "We are also interested in macroecology and the processes shaping insect diversity at broad spatial, temporal, and taxonomic extents. Our work is motivated by a desire to inform conservation, biological understanding, and climate adaptation."

Belitz holds a bachelor's degree in biology and environmental studies from Knox College (2014), a master's degree in biology from Central Michigan University (2018), and a doctorate in zoology from the University of Florida and Florida Museum of Natural History (2023).

For any technology issues, contact seminar coordinator Lisa Baik at  [email protected]